Eccentric grab



Dec. 14, 1926. 1,610,780 F. J. HINDERLITER l ECCENTBIC GRAB Filed Nov. '7. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheva' 1 zzz: 25mg-fer Dec. 14 1926.

F. J. HINDERLITER ECCENTRIC GRAB Filed Nov. 7'. 1925 2 sneets-snqet 2 J erizzzez Vse Patented Dec. 14, i926. Y

nar-rsa FRANK J. 0F TULSA.; OKLAHOMA.

accennare einen.

A] neat-ien mea sweater 2, isst. serial no. erase.

This invention relates to fishing tools for recovering lost articles in the bottom of drill holes as in the oil well drilling industry.

Many varieties of articles are dropped down unprotected drill holes from time to time, as well as other fragments resulting' from broken drills, rotary bits with pins broken off, underreamers and the like. lf the lost article is of sufficient size to stand nearly upright in the drill hole, it is ordinarily a simple matter to .fish it out. On the other hand, smaller articles may fall over in the hole and if casing is used the extremities thereof may lie out-side the clear diamer ter of the casing so that-the article may have to be tilted or rightedbefore it can be gripped and hoisted through the casing. ln the description that follows, a broken underreamer cutter has been chosen for specific illustrative purposes only. rlhe. present invention has for its object providing means for righting or shifting an article lost in a drill hole and means for gripping the same. after righting.

Gther and further important objects of this invention will beapparent from the dis closures in the specification and the accompanying drawings.

This invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation of a device embodying the features of this invent-ion;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line Hhll of Figure l showing t-le device lowered through a casing in position to pick up an article lost in the hole;

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Figure 2 showing the action of the spud in straightening the lost article into a position where it can be picked up;

Fig. 4 is a similar Section showing the device gripping the lost article;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line V-V of Figure l; and

Fig. 6 is a section on the line VL-VI of Figure l.

As shown on the drawings:

A line of casing is indicated by the numeral 10, a shoe ll being shown on the bottom thereof in the drill hole l2. it is customary under certain circumstances to use such casing around the drill bit and closely following the same, so that the bit necessarily takes the form of an expansion or underreamer in order to be lowered through the casing. The underreamer cutters such as shown at l-l .in the drawings Vare comparatively delicate and'occasionally break off and drop to the bottom of the holefpreventing lfurther drilling. Also when the drilling tools are hoisted out a miscellaneous assortment of hand tools are likely to be dropped down the casing and itis frequently a considerable task to iish such vlost-.articles out of wells, as the lost articles usually lie in such a position that .they must bev aligned with the hole before'they can be gripped and hoisted through the casing. ln order to accomplish this result. the body or shank 1.4i

Vof the gripping tool, having the usual pin l5 for attachment tothe rods, is provided with an eccentric or off-set semi'circular lspurl 16, theV oifsetof the spud being preferably the maximum that will go down thelcasing. rlhis spud serves to strike and force one end of the lost article downwardly thus tipping the other end up, as shown in Figure 3, into a position to be engaged by the gripping mechanism.

lf the lost article is substantially circular the spud may be provided with a pair of slips l? which slide in inclined grooves 18 and are provided with gripping teeth which are forced into the article to be lifted by the weight thereof acting in conjunction with the wedging action of the inclined grooves. The slips are held from dropping out by a tongue and groove construction in the grooves together with pins 19 below the slips.

The main gripping mechanism or grab comprises a pivoted lever 20 mounted in a recess 2l in the shank of the tool, the pivotA being located at 22. TheupperV end of the lever 20 is undercut to receive the ends of a pair of coil springs 23 positioned in suitable wells in the shank, and the lower end of the lever ends short of the point of the spud in a serrated surface 24 having an outwardly beveled smooth point 25 adapted to slide over the outer and upper corner of a lo-st tool to assist the spud in righting the same. When the tool is to be lowered down a drill hole. the grab is expanded in any suitable manner and a breakable pin 26 inserted between the serrations 24 on the lever 2O and a recess 27 provided in the wall of the spud. rl'his pin is intended to be knocked out of the way or broken by the tool being driven down over the top of the lost article as shown in Figures 3 and 4. It is not necessary that the pin be either fragile or ductile for the reason that it can be forced out even it unyielding, but a fragile pin olers less resistance to the top of 'the lost article so that it is preferable.

In the use ot this recovery tool the lever or grab 20 is first propped in extended or open position by the pin 26 and is lowered in the casing. 'Vhen" the eccentric spud clears thc bottoni ofthe casing it swings over to the side of the drill hole as shown in the iigures, the projecting pointed end oit the spud engaging one corner ot the lost article and straightening or righting the same by driving down on the string of tools, thus placing the article in a position so that it will pass up into the grab and be gripped thereby after displacing the pin 26.

I ain aware that inany changes nia-y be made, and numerous details of construction inay be varied through a Wide range Without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon, other- Wise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as rny invention:

l. In a toolof the class described, a recessed shank, a gripping lever pivoted in said recessed shank, springs associated with said lever, a serrated surface on the projecting end of said lever forming a grab, a prop `for holding the projecting end of the lever distended, and ar seinicircular spud eX- tending below and opposite to said grab and adapted to right an object lying at the bottorn ot thefdrill hole.

2. In a tool ot' the class described, a recessed shank, a gripping lever pivoted in said recessed shank, springs associated with said lever, a serrated surface on the projecting end of said lever torining a grab, a prop for holding the projecting end oi' the lever distended, and a seinicircular spud eccentrically dispo-sed With respect to the shank extending below and opposite to said grab and adapted to right an object lying at the bottoni of the drill hole.

3. In a recovery tool a shank, a spud on said shank and offset with respect thereto, a serrated gripping lever pivoted to said shank and disposed opposite to said spud, said gripping lever being shorterthan said 'spud and serrated slips associated with said spud in opposed relationship with the serrated suriace of said lever.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub-- scribed iny naine.

FRANK J. IIINDERLITER. 

